The Making of Huefar
by Doublebend
Summary: AU Life in a movie studio. Yukimura is a famous actor, known for his handsome, romantic roles. Sasuke is just a child who ends up as the star's co-actor by a twisted fate. Can the two work together well enough to make the movie? Or, something else...?
1. First impressions

I think I got the idea for this one because of this school production I'm supposed to be a part of. I guessed I'd like an AU story once in a while, starting the Yukimura/Sasuke tale from scratch and all. So, as a brief summary, Yukimura is a star actor, and Sasuke got dragged into his latest film with some warped coincidence. Let's sit back and watch what happens between the two.

**Disclaimer:** But wouldn't it be cool if Yukimura really was in a movie?

Enjoy!

* * *

It was a view so splendid it could only have been molded by the very hands of God. It was the very core of the trickling substance called "nature" – and the "beauty" of the whole universe seeped into it, as the waist high, thick blanket of grass and flowers seemed to within the rich, dark soil unseen under the colours. The sky was a shining blue, with not a stretch of cloud in sight, and underneath the clear azure, amidst that land of green and red and white and all the makings of the rainbow, stood two lone figures, embracing, loving. It seemed as though they were in a world of their own.

One was a man, strong and bold, his muscled arms wrapped around the slighter body pressed up against him. His wavy, silky black hair danced in the wind, tangling slightly with his partner's own light one. His skin was a transparent ivory, flawless to every pore; his long lashes covered his dark orbs that gazed tenderly at the young woman at his chest.

His lover was of similar beauty, rosy cheeks snuggled up tight against his broad front, wheat coloured hair flowing all around her, around them. Her pure white dress streamed out slightly behind her, carried by the breeze that swept across the field and carried bright, light petals along with it to the horizon. Her slender fingers curled slightly, very gently fisting the plain shirt the man wore. They stood there for a while, in a deep, revered silence, he standing brave and tall, she with her lovely face scented in flowers, hands clasping at the frail cloth underneath them, almost desperately. Finally, at a little nudge from the man, she looked up timidly, eyelashes fluttering at the sudden brightness.

"Must you really have to go?" she said softly, staring pleadingly up at her lover's face. "You know I will not hold you back…but still, our time together…"

"Shh," the man whispered, placing one single finger at her lips, allowing no more words to drop from her pretty lips. "Our time together was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to me. In the mornings, I could hear the birds chirp ever so clearly. In the nights, the stars shimmered as though they had never seen such a perfect contrast between them and the midnight sky. Your voice is a music so sweet that I could almost taste it…and your beauty knows no bounds. You could be Aphrodite in human form – but the lowly earth does not strain any of your magic. All I could do everyday was watch you, and only you…so gentle, and gorgeous, and grand…"

The woman could do nothing but blush. "Oh, Eric…" she murmured, resting her head once again on his torso.

"But alas, I have no other options," the man continued. "It's my work, Sarah. If my superior has ordered me to go to Huefar, then I must follow his commands and respect them. Oh, Sarah," he took her hands, and stepped back, so to have a full view of her face. "How I wish…"

But the lady smile tearfully, and shook her head. "You don't have to wish for anything, Eric," she said quietly. "You have a mission – you must accomplish it. Even if it means you will leave me."

They drew in, closer once more, till their lips touched and fit each other perfectly. A chaste, simple kiss, and then they broke away; their hands still clasping each other's; their eyes still fixed with each other's. The man spoke first.

"I will come back as soon as I can, I promise," he said determinedly. "And for me, there will be only you – now and forever on. If, in turn, you can promise me the same…"

"I promise, Eric," the woman told him. "I promise that I will wait for you to come home, even for an eternity, and I will love no one else apart from you."

Transfixed in each other's gazes, they kissed once more, before the man broke away and set off, running across the sheet of green, towards the horizon. The woman simply stood there, watching as her lover disappeared into the distance between the green and the blue, never looking back…..

"…..Aaand, CUT! Well done everybody!"

There was a loud applause all around, and people jostled to reach the actors to congratulate them on their first take. The green screen was rolled up, and taken away with the packed footage and cameras. A crowd formed behind the computer which was replaying the scene, checking for any faults or mistakes. The woman was eventually carried off towards the dressing room for her next scene, but not before sending her co-actor a flirtious wink. The man grinned, showing off all of his sparkling white teeth, before turning away to his assistant with a disgruntled expression.

"Remind me _never _to do anything like that, Saizo," he told the assistant, taking the offered soft towel and water bottle and thanking him.

Saizo gave an apologetic smile. "You'll have to bear with roles like that for quite a while from now, Yukimura-sama. With your looks and attitude, directors cannot think of handing you a role other than that of the tragic romantic."

"Then the directors haven't a shred of imagination whatsoever," Yukimura sniffed. "Don't they know that to capture a modern lady's heart, it's much better to act as the handsome evil overlord?"

"Haha…on second thought, I suppose that part would fit Yukimura-sama well enough…"

They started making their way across the studio, nodding and smiling at the technicians who greeted them. Yukimura took a great gulp of water as he walked on, exhaling as he lifted it from his pink lips and wiped them with his sleeve. Saizo watched in great appreciation, wondering to what extent the beautiful actor could stretch his dazzle with just his refreshed looking face. However…

"Yukimura-sama! Please don't dirty the costume, it was costly! Here, a handkerchief…"

Yukimura blinked in surprise, and gave a nervous chuckle. "Oohhh, sorry Saizo. I've been in this thing for so long, I forgot that it wasn't mine." He took the piece of cloth and cleaned his pale face with it, taking a breath of satisfaction.

Saizo sighed and shook his head, exasperated. "If you only agreed to kiss Ms. Tran without any questions, we wouldn't have spent hours bickering with the producer! Next time, you should stop being so picky and go with whatever the script tells you to."

"You've seen what else I was supposed to do with her!" Yukimura complained. "If we hadn't negotiated with that pompous guy there and then, I would have ended up practically stripping her of that flimsy dress!"

He coughed, and stuck his bottom lip out in a pout as Saizo quickly looked away, holding back a snigger. "Just so you know, I'm _not _as indecent enough as to feel up a woman I've only seen twice in the past weeks!"

Saizo tried and failed to hide his smirk. "Of course you're not…Yukimura-sama." The assistant gave up the moment Yukimura shot him an irritated look, and was openly laughing by the time the pair reached the actor's personal room.

Said actor threw the heavy script onto the coffee table. "I'm going to kill the crap who wrote this," he growled, dumping himself on the plushy sofa. Saizo raised an eyebrow. Yukimura must be really pissed – he was mad enough to swear.

"I'm sure that everything will turn out wonderful in the end," he replied soothingly, setting a new cup of black tea before Yukimura. "They always do! Oh, just have a sip and calm down, Yukimura-sama. You know this one will be a hit as well."

Raising the bitter smelling drink for a good smell, he deemed it worthy enough for his tastes and gulped a good portion of it down his throat. "…I don't know, Saizo," he said wearily, leaning back into the sofa. He passed a hand in front of his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. "No, I didn't mean that I don't know if the film will be a hit or not," he said hastily, as Saizo made a panicked face. "I mean…I've gotten more popular than I could ever imagine. I have more fans than ever fawning over me, and I can buy every sake bar in the whole world with the money I'm being paid. But, still…"

Saizo felt as though he knew what was coming. "…You feel like you're missing something…?" he asked slowly.

Yukimura gave a small smile. "I sound so cheesy I could have made that old advertisement for the cow farm they finished last week, right?" he grinned. "But for your information, no, that's not really it. All this filming business is getting to your head, Saizo."

The other man frowned, perplexed. "Then, what is it? Yukimura-sama."

He was not given an immediate answer. "…I really wonder what," the actor answered quietly. His head rested on the backrest of the furniture, long black hair tumbling like waterfalls down the back of it. A hand rested on his forehead, as he stared up into the light bulb of the lamp hanging above their heads. "I wonder…"

Suddenly, he snapped up, eyes twinkling. "Good grief, I've watched too much soppy love movies for the preparation!" he cried. Saizo jolted in his place, almost spilling the contents of his mug onto the lush carpet underneath his feet. "Well, no time to dawdle now! Our break will be almost over – studio seven next, right? For the one with that dog?"

Saizo quickly collected himself and put his tea down, with plans to finish it later. "That's correct, Yukimura-sama," he answered enthusiastically. "Do you want me to bring a chew toy or–"

He was cut off by a swift knock on the star's door; both of them turned to it as a balding, flustered man entered without waiting for permission, out of breath and reed in the face. He took a couple of wheezes before starting, Yukimura eyeing him up and down and Saizo wondering if he should get some water along with the chew toy.

"The – the Head of the studio is calling for Mr. Yukimura…" he trailed off, gladly accepting the bottle of mineral water from an anxious Saizo.

"But I thought that I had to work on a take with Maxey the Maltese," Yukimura frowned. "Why would Mr. Gregory need me now?"

The balding man coughed and pushed his slipping glasses higher up his nose. "The matter was not specified to me, sir," he said briskly. "Mr. Gregory has given you permission to miss whatever job you have next – you are to go to his office in this instant."

He squeaked and ducked out again when Yukimura turned his piercing gaze on him, still frowning. Shaking his head, he reached for his brown shoulder bag and headed out as well. Saizo scuttled uncertainly after him, and the two started off once more towards the main block of the building.

"But really, what could Mr. Gregory want with you?" Saizo wondered out loud. After a second of thinking, he whipped around to look sternly at the actor walking beside him, whistling tunelessly. "Yukimura-sama, you didn't do anything like taking one of his cars out for a spin and crashing it, did you?"

Yukimura feigned mock horror. "Nonsense, Saizo! If I did that, then it would have been on the news, and even you would have heard of it! I merely hacked into his fanfiction account and read a few entries he made on that anime about the samurai, and this cute girl bounty hunter with a weird gun…"

"……Uh-huh."

Stepping off the creaking elevator at the topmost floor, they reached the grand oak door leading to the forbidden office of the Head. A strange, mighty aura emitted from behind the door, overpowering even those of the strongest steeled stomachs. Saizo gulped, and reached for something to wipe his face with, but Yukimura knocked lightly on the buffed door, sang "Coming in!" in his tinkling tone, and pushed his way in without twitching an eye. His assistant hesitated for a moment, wishing he could be as brave as his idol, before scampering after the other man, not wanting to be left behind.

Gregory sat at his majestic desk, right at the end of the huge room. The walls were plastered with framed posters of the studio's recent hits, quite a number of them depicting Yukimura as the part of the heroic lover. The gigantic windows behind him did not have their curtains drawn, so the sunlight poured in through the transparent materials, forcing Saizo to squint slightly as he stepped in. (Yukimura had his shades on.)

The Head of the studios looked up from his mountain of paperwork, and cracked a beam when he caught sight of his favourite actor on the lot. He greeted them in a deep, jovial voice.

"Ah, Yukimura! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Yukimura lifted his sunglasses a bit to let his own dark eyes crinkle. "Mr. Gregory. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

A low chuckle. "Now, now, Yukimura, there's no need for such formalities!" Completely ignoring Saizo, who was shifting his weight from foot to foot beside Yukimura, Gregory placed his sleek pen down and stapled his fingers together, elbows on desk. "You are always welcome anywhere on the face of the earth that I own, so long as you keep bringing in money and fame back here!"

Yukimura's laugh this time was a surly one, but Gregory didn't seem to notice that.

"Anyway, I have an important announcement to make to you," Gregory continued, getting up and walking around in a wide berth of his desk. He stopped in front of it, thick hands behind his back. "You know the movie, 'The Missionary of Huefar'?"

"Ah, that one," Yukimura recalled, the spark of the memory not too difficult to grasp. "Yes, we actually finished taking the first shot of it some ten minutes ago. Just before you called us."

The Head nodded approvingly. "Yes, yes, that one…well, you remember the plot of it, don't you?"

_Of course he does, _thought Saizo. _No offence meant, but Yukimura-sama is so picky with his plays, he reads the plot line to the smallest nooks and crannies. I have enough trouble getting him to agree to at least playing one role to pay for his living!_

"The Missionary of Huefar" – a tragic tale of a young man, referred by the title as a "missionary", who leaves his beautiful hometown some miles away from the Alps to work in the smoggy, dusty town of Huefar. Since it was very different from where he grew up, the man discouraged himself from making any kind of connection with other people or the city, getting into the habit of locking himself up in his own room, sometimes for weeks onwards. Because of his refusal to socialize with those of Huefar, the man's reputation was ruined and he found himself fired. Having no more means to remain there, he goes back to his home he has not visited in years, and his lover who, he discovers upon arrival, has broken their eternal promise and married another youth during his absence. Rejected even by his precious motherland, the man has no choice but to turn back to the only other place he knew in the world – Huefar.

It is after a year spent in humble solitude, working as a poor journalist and keeping his profile as the former missionary in the dark, that the man finds a small boy in need of his assistance. This boy was born in an even poorer state than he was – he has no idea who his parents are, he had lived in a rundown orphanage since he was aware of his surroundings, and now, with no money or a roof over his head, he makes a living by selling his body to prostitution. After meeting him, the man finally faces with his former, arrogant self, and battles between his decision to protect the boy, or stay low, but safe, as the nameless writer he is now. In the end, he saves the boy and takes him to a village near his home as a fresh man, deciding to care for the child as his own son. His last work went into the papers, and effectively brought down the prostitution centre, with the true recounts of a child who once worked there included, along with his own new views of life, children and the world surrounding him.

"But, we face a problem here," Gregory said. "I assume you met Billy Tramp, child actor, in the last meeting?"

"The one who plays the boy?" Yukimura backtracked. "Oh, yes. Him. Bright boy. Lots of freckles."

Gregory snorted, his moustache ruffling dangerously. "And clumsy on his feet. He tripped on the way back home from his geography field trip at school. Loose stone near a waterfall. He's at home right now, with a broken left leg and a terrible bruise on his crown."

"Oh no!" Saizo gasped. His exclamation went unnoticed.

Yukimura bit back the bad pun that tried to escape his lips. Fortunately, Gregory got there first.

"When we say, 'Break a leg', we don't mean it in a literal sense!" he growled, pacing up and down before his desk. "So when we got the news, the whole of the upper ring was in an uproar. We needed a replacement immediately! But there wasn't enough time! What should we do?"

_Oh dear. He's in his drama queen mode._

He gave a bark of laughter, and stopped in his steps, the theatrical gleam in his eyes. "Then, a saviour! My own assistant, Sheldon Malkins, introduced us a good friend of his who give drama lessons to children about Billy's age. He also ran an orphanage, which most of his students are from. Although it's not as prehistoric as in the movie, it meant that we could get a little boy with enough experience to relate! It was a perfect match!"

"So I gather you found someone?" Yukimura asked coolly, handing Saizo a tissue to wipe his tears of compassion.

"Oh, we found someone, alright!" Gregory said triumphantly. "And he's just what we're looking for! Sure, he'll need a bit of softening up, but he's agreed to do it. Why don't you come and meet him?"

"He's here now?" Saizo asked, surprised.

"Yes, he's in the waiting room," Gregory finally acknowledged his presence. "Well? Do you want to go meet your co-actor?"

_Well, I can't exactly say no, can I._

Saizo could just _hear _what Yukimura was thinking.

"I would be delighted to, Mr. Gregory," Yukimura replied smoothly. The other man simply nodded.

"Good, good!" The Head, always so faithful to Yukimura's expectations, was already halfway towards the door. "Follow me then, gentlemen."

They did so in silence, Saizo quietly clicking the door shut behind them as they proceeded down the long corridor. The boy must be waiting in the Head's personal waiting room, Yukimura surmised, during the short walk there. The studio was a large place, and easy to get lost in if not given a thorough tour or two at first. Of course, Yukimura was well known for serving Tarfly Studios for a few years now, producing many a famous pictures and for being the person responsible for bringing the name of the company to the Hall of Fame.

They reached a plain door, almost at the end of the hallway, next to a water fountain and the bathrooms. Yukimura and Saizo waited while Gregory rapped upon the thin strip of clouded glass placed to the side of the door, and trailed after him and into the room.

"Hullo, Kosuke," Yukimura said the moment he caught sight of her.

Kosuke whipped around from her position with her back to the door, and Yukimura glimpsed a small body sitting on the couch behind her. He assumed that it must be the child, but he couldn't get a good look at him as Kosuke was standing right between them, blocking his view. She must have been attending to him in someway, perhaps talking, but now she adopted a joyful manner as she caught sight of her beloved star.

"Yukimura-sama!" she cried, eyes shining. "A pleasure to see you again! How have you been?"

The actor smiled. "The same I have been since yesterday afternoon, when I last saw you Kosuke," he teased, successfully coaxing a blush from the girl who so looked like himself.

"Miss Kosuke has been looking after our new boy," Gregory told the other two. "But make sure that he can ask you anything he may be unsure of. You're all to make him feel at home while he's here, got that?"

All three adults nodded, and Gregory, pleased, clapped his hands together. "Well then, come on out here boy! Greet your co-actor for "The Missionary of Huefar", Sanada Yukimura!"

And Kosuke stepped back to reveal to Yukimura; a small boy with snowy hair, and marvelous golden cat-like eyes. He was adorned with a simple T-shirt that was decorated with nothing fancy, and extremely short shorts that barely reached his thigh. Despite not being any older than twelve, he wore a look of wariness and calculation, and Yukimura could tell that he was highly suspecting of anyone, with all his guards raised.

He decided that he liked that look.

The boy clambered down from the moth-bitten couch and trodded slowly over to where the celebrity stood. The older man gave a reassuring smile and stuck his hand out, which the little boy took with his smaller one after a second of contemplating.

Somehow surprisingly, it was very warm. Even with the colder weather approaching, the boy remained in summer clothes, and yet managed to maintain a heated body temperature? Yukimura felt a little envious about this – he was, actually, the type to catch colds easily, and it had caused many problems for his job in the past. So the boy wasn't too bad on the eyes, and could make a nice heater in the winter.

"Nice to meet you," Yukimura smiled, grasping the warm hand tightly. "I'm sure it will be a pleasure to work with you from now on."

The boy was staring at the hands, still in the handshake. He had a curious expression, as though he wasn't used to such a greeting. Or any interaction with people at all.

Taking up the tiny hand with both of his own, Yukimura knelt down on one knee to be eyelevel with the boy. Staring into his shocked face, probably because he was witnessing a celeb get to the floor for him, the older man smiled gently and massaged the boy's rigid fingers.

"Do you think you can tell us your name, little boy?" he asked kindly.

The silver haired boy squirmed slightly, looking this way and that as though he was unsure who Yukimura was talking to. Finally, he fixed his wandering gaze on the enveloped hands, and trailing it upwards till he reached the chest, the neck, the chin and the man's eyes, he spoke in a small, husky voice.

"Sarutobi, Sasuke."

* * *

And so, I'll cut it short for now. We've pretty much got the idea of how things work, don't we? Yukimura, I imagine, is a little stricter than usual, but that's probably because I wrote this till I finally curled up to die in my bed at four in the morning. Sasuke I hope will be his normal Tsundere self, after I regain energy with some sleep and a proper breakfast (mother's in Japan and father has the can't - get up - on - time syndrome). And Saizo is lurking in the background, admiring Yukimura's back from somewhere afar.

Not sure if Gregory is the Head's last or first name. But let's not pick on the smallest bits of information.

R&R! Trust me, they'll keep me going so I can actually get the story finished...


	2. The harder they fall

I have a splitting headache (due to lack of sleep, once again) which is definitely not a good way to start off the New Year. To think that I'm going to have to force myself to stay awake till 12:00 and watch the damn Kouhaku Uta Gassen (and I'm not even going to go into that - but there's quite a few bands playing I know and love playing this year...) THEN wait for the news reporter dude to count down 4...3...2...1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! till I can get some aspirin.

But my usual spurt of remaining energy (which regenerated me briefly, many thanks to Fullmetal Alchemist and a certain brilliant fanfiction writer going by the name of SkyDark - if you're into Ed/Roy then I SO reccommend this treasured piece of art) I guess I managed to post my last chapter of the year...sort of. I was half dead on my bed for the most time I was working on this, and especially the last parts were done sparingly and took me a few days to go through, all which I was suffering from writer's block and was just lucky I at least had a plot bunny. So I'll leave the readers to judge.

Enjoy!

Hey, it's only crappy if _I_ say so.

* * *

Yukimura sighed deeply for the millionth time that day. He lounged in a plastic seat with Saizo at his side, his half of the large room dim and crowded, the cameras clustered together obscuring his view of the brightly lit area beyond. However, from the glimpses of figures on the set snatched from gaps between people and machinery, he could pretty much digress what was going on up there.

The kid wasn't a bad actor – on film, he should be convincing enough for the audience to be satisfied. They were doing the bit where the prostitution centre's owner found out about the boy's interaction with a person outside, and had locked him in the basement with another, older worker who had also been thrown in there for disobedience. The worker was a kind-hearted, considerate man, who would eventually be murdered trying to escape later in the movie, but played a crucial role in helping the boy open up more to the missionary. Faces smeared with dirt and grime, the two sat alone on the dirty wooden boards of the gloomy, small cellar, consoling each other about their problems and doubts.

Yukimura thought that Kamanosuke was doing a good job as well – this was his first time playing a semi-important role in any movie, and he had been both excited and frightened at the thought of working so prominently with his idol and friend, Sanada Yukimura. The pretty man who unfortunately lacked the tongue to match his face seemed to be keeping his nerves in check for the moment, though; he was speaking to Sasuke in a low, kindly tone, his soft words clear and soothing. Even Sasuke seemed entranced by the melodic tune that was Kamanosuke's voice, and Yukimura was mildly surprised that he was able to remember his lines amidst all that.

"You've been stuck here nearly all your life," Kamanosuke was telling Sasuke gently, his larger hands overlapping the boy's. "I can understand that you will find it difficult to trust him, trust anyone from outside…but I can tell the man's been through a whole lot himself. He knows pain, and he's experienced regret – he may see his younger self when he looks at you. And if he cares for you like he said, then you never know, he could be your one way ticket out of here."

Sasuke frowned confusedly into Kamanosuke's bright eyes. "But I thought you said there _is _no way out?"

"I meant not for me," the man smiled ruefully. "I've been too rebellious for the time I spent in here. They have their sights set on me. But you," he continued, a steely tone entering his voice. "You've always been a good boy, abiding the rules and pleasing your share of customers. This is your first time in punishment, right? If you stay quiet and solemn when they let you out, they'll figure you've learnt your lesson and won't try anything like contacting outsiders again. Well, you'll show them. You're going to get out of this hellhole, boy, and you're going to live your life. And I'm going to help you do just that."

"Y – yeah, but…" Sasuke began timidly, when Kamanosuke cut him off with a triumphant grin and defiant words, so different from the tender encouragement he had started off with. "Whatever it takes! We're going to get you free! Don't you worry now boy, you won't ever have to go tending to those fat pedophilic bastards once you stand up and firm!"

His slight touch on the boy's small hand had turned into a painful grasp. "That man will help you!" he said fiercely, locking gazes with the boy. "He's no idiot, that I can tell you… and he swore on his life that he'll save you, didn't he?"

Sasuke nodded shakily, looking just a little frightened by the sudden change in the man's quiet attitude. Still shaken up, he exhaled sharply and withdrew his hands from Kamanosuke's. Drooping his head, he said in an almost inaudible voice, "He was so kind. I – I've never felt that way with anyone before. He reached out to me when I was hurt…but I – I…"

The other man, having calmed down a bit, looked down sorrowfully at the silently shaking figure of his companion. After a few chokes and suppressed noises, the boy continued tearfully.

"I tried to push him away…I didn't want to believe him. I didn't want to get hurt…will he still trust _me _after everything I did…?"

There was a minute of tense stillness, wracked only by Sasuke's sobs and gasps. At the end of it, however, a bearded man with tiny glasses perched atop his crooked nose raised a burly hand and yelled, "Cut!"

Everything was a squabble, as usual when they had finished a take. Sasuke looked up, his eyes dry and wearing that cold mask of his again. Yukimura watched as Kamanosuke laid a hand on the boy's shoulder as they stood up, saying something with a cheery grin playing on his lips. Sasuke only answered with a small nod, his eyes fixed on the ground and not really paying attention to all the hubbub around him.

Yukimura got up from his seat behind the cameras wearily, eyebrows arching together at the child's disinterested manner. With Saizo following close at his heels, he marched up to his kohai actors. One of the things that was bothering him about Sasuke was that he just didn't seem to _communicate_; he sat alone for hours, without speaking, or reading, or really doing _anything _at all, on the couch in the little break room minor actors used for their time offs between jobs. Truthfully, Yukimura was amazed by this – he wouldn't be able to sit still for so long, in the same place, without having to have something new every five minutes to entertain himself with. Of course, when those five minutes were up and nothing new _was _presented to him, then he'll probably go for a stroll somewhere around there (here he may raise a hand and wave into a vague direction) to chat some ladies of the studio up – and most possibly never come back again.

If Sasuke was shy then he could understand the kid's behaviour. He knew full well that some people just didn't want to be recognized for their amazing beauty or dazzling personality. And he also knew for the record that there was no way that no one could have neither, for everyone had different preferences and views, just as in the same way some people could have both and conquer all, like him. However, Sasuke didn't seem shy – no, that just wasn't the right word. The child hadn't said five words to Yukimura during his fourteen hours (including their brief introduction) within the vicinity. The older man had tried to strike up a conversation with him, multiple times, but all he got was gestures or short grunts for answers. While this had irritated him to the point he was having trouble holding back the temptation to ask the boy if he had been raised by cavemen, Yukimura found himself staring at the young child when he didn't know it – the star actor found the expression Sasuke often wore fascinating for some reason, no matter what unceremonious reply he had received for asking him what his favourite colour was. (Not the most original question, but he had gotten tired and out of sorts.)

From what he could see, it was a look of boredom…but that was pretty much all he got from just glancing at it. And it wasn't really a surprising thing, taking in account that the poor kid had nothing to amuse himself with. Still, Yukimura was pretty sure that there was something else hidden in that visage of his. At first he had thought it was wariness of strangers, but now…

Yes, the boy didn't trust easily. It was ironic, really, when comparing his role in the movie he was supposed to be playing, and his real self. In the story, the young boy will have to overcome his fear of being taken advantage of, just as Eric had to summon up his sense of self sacrifice. In real life, well…Yukimura knew that real life was something that people who didn't know better thought of as "past the expectations and acceptance of their imaginations", which just meant that life could be totally different to what they had envisioned, and an amazing number deemed it just dishonest and untrustworthy, when the problem was really their pampered so-called "imagination". Sasuke, no matter what sweet, helpless act he was putting up in front of the cameras, remained a bitter, closed human being once out of the spotlight.

Striding up to where Kamanosuke was unsuccessfully attempting to coax a full sentence from the child actor, and Sasuke making the obvious actions of one trying to swat an annoying fly, the handsome star made sure his fabulous woman-killing smile was in place before greeting them. "Hey, Kamanosuke, Sasuke. That was some scene, wasn't it?"

Both of them looked up when they heard his voice; Kamanosuke's eyes were instant;y full of starry glitter ("Yukimura-sama! You were watching us?! Please tell me, how was I?! I'd very much appreciate suggestions from your perspective – I mean, Yukimura-sama being such an experienced senior in theatrical arts…") while the younger boy simply glanced at him once, before turning his gaze back down to the floor.

Yukimura felt the spark of irritation he had whenever Sasuke did that – he was not used to be treated as somebody so worthless to be ignored. Pushing aside negative thoughts, he himself chose to mainly address Kamanosuke, giving him a professional view and praises for his exceptional acting.

It wasn't payback for the treatment he had just been given, or anything childish as that…

It wasn't.

"You kept up the pace there nicely," Yukimura told Kamanosuke approvingly. "Even I'd say that a character like yours is very difficult to follow – very temperamental, and it's actually rather hard to effectively let his change of emotion or mind be seenand recognized by the audience. But you made that part very clear, and it really added to the tension. Well done."

As the other man practically radiated with pride and admiration, Yukimura added, "But I think you should tone it down a bit when working with younger ones. Daresay you scared poor Sasuke here with that impressive piece of acting?"

Sasuke's head snapped up at this, and Yukimura was both surprised and oddly pleased to see hot rage and embarrassment in the boy's golden, glaring eyes. At least the boy wasn't exactly an empty shell.

"I _wasn't_ scared," he said indignantly.

Yukimura nodded understandingly, and made to stand next to Sasuke. He resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow when the child stepped back smartly, almost as soon as he had raised his own foot. He did not, however, stop his teasing assault.

"You have to admit, Kamanosuke was very convincing," Yukimura said kindly. "No one will blame you if he _did _worry you for a moment…or two…"

He was enjoying himself, watching the small boy's usually cool expression turn heated, and his face grew to a bright red. "Stop patronizing me," he hissed in a voice that would have made anyone, apart from Yukimura, recoil. "You have no right to –"

Saizo stepped hurriedly from behind the group, and eyed Sasuke sternly from beside his idol. "Um, Sasuke," he began, wondering if he was imagining the sparks fly, as the two's gazes met. "You shouldn't talk to Yukimura-sama like that –"

"It's fine Saizo," Yukimura smiled, and Sasuke growled deep in his throat. The older man stared at the infuriated boy for a second longer, before murmuring softly, "No right to _what_, Sasuke?"

Grinding his teeth together, Sasuke stepped forward and opened his mouth, but before he could utter another word of profanity, somebody called him from across the room.

"Sasuke-kun! It's time for your classes – there you are, Sasuke-kun!"

Kakei Jyuuzhou came rushing up to the group, with Yukimura and Sasuke looking into each other's eye as alpha wolves of separate packs would if they met each other one moonless night, plus Saizo and Kamanosuke awkwardly sidling along the sidelines, unsure of whether to stay or try to break the two up. However, Kakei seemed totally oblivious to the prickling tension, as he barged right through the crowd and grabbed Sasuke's arm.

"You're late for your math lesson, Sasuke-kun!" the tutor scolded the startled boy, pushing his round glasses up the bridge of his nose on his youthful face. He then turned to Yukimura, cracking into a bright smile once he took notice of the actor's presence. "Oh, Yukimura-sama! I'm so glad that you're taking interest in Sasuke. He's quite alone in this studio, so I was hoping he'll find someone to talk to occasionally! And like you always said, the best movies are made from the best friendships between the actors, right?"

"Precisely what I had in mind, Kakei-kun," Yukimura said cheerily, and ushered the two onwards. "Well, you'd better get to class then, eh Sasuke? Education can actually be useful sometimes, you know!"

Momentarily taken confused by the abrupt change of events, Sasuke was rendered speechless for a second before snapping back to his usual sour self. "_Don't_ think that this is the end of this," he snarled in a low, warning voice, before allowing the ever happy Kakei drag him off to the classroom caravan in the parking lot.

Yukimura watched them go, waving a hand in fond farewell, and turned to find both Saizo and Kamanosuke looking at him through narrowed eyes. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Yukimura-sama, you really had no need to initiate that," Saizo said loudly. "We need you to _concentrate_ on this film, and an uncooperative co-actor is not going to help!"

"_I _can concentrate," Yukimura said loftily. "Whether _he _can or not is not my problem."

"Well, I'm just gonna go and do…" Kamanosuke offered, before dashing off to talk with one of the technician members.

"He is still a child!" Saizo argued, ignoring Kamanosuke's sudden disappearing act. "He is not as responsible for his actions or emotions as you are! And this being his first time on a real job…Kakei is right, Sasuke needs all the help and companionship he can get to be able to get comfortable."

Yukimura was staring at a girl trotting past, breasts bouncing with every step. "With that kind of attitude, he'll find it quite hard to achieve that," he murmured.

"With people who only want to rile him, it'll be no wonder!" Saizo retaliated furiously, looking very close to tearing his long, fancy hair out of it's bandana. He took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone. "Look, Yukimura-sama…I'm sorry, but Sasuke is going to become an important member of the crew now. He needs support, and he himself might not want to show it, but we, the adults, need to recognize this and give it to him. We can't just make him change his behaviour – I'm not disagreeing with you that it's a little unfavourable here – but we can hope that he warms up to us, and start working more proficiently as a team. Especially where it has you concerned."

The assistant shook his head, sighing again. "But I don't see _why _you were so earnest in ridiculing him, Yukimura-sama," he complained. "I mean, normally you let things go with a comment or two, but nothing so scathing…did he do something to you, or–"

"It was nothing, Saizo," Yukimura interrupted, smiling, black eyes fixed on Saizo's own. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to stress you out. I understand, okay? Live it down a bit, got it."

Saizo relaxed, a relieved, sheepish grin taking over the firm straight line that was his mouth. "Alright. Well, glad we got to terms with that. I'm sorry I yelled at you, Yukimura-sama," he put in hastily, guilt showing on his face. "I guess I'm kind of agitated this morning."

"You and me both," Yukimura agreed, turning on his heels. "Now, where's my next job again?"

"Studio three, on the left block, right this way…"

* * *

Yukimura hummed happily as he reached for his towel and drink Saizo was handing out to him, after jumping off a nearly sinking ship planted right in the middle of the set, it's position in front of the green screen not unlike one the Titanic would take on. Blue plastic sheets crackled under his feet, laid there to catch the shower of water that exploded periodically from the sprinklers off set. Tearing his drenched shirt off as soon as he reached the row of pipe seats at the edge of the sheets on the floor, Yukimura made a big show of searching around for a new replacement, all the while flexing his toned abs at the women (and the odd few men) actors, who were indeed, staring in a dazed state.

Saizo fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"_Really, _Yukimura-sama?" he said exasperatedly. "Was that completely necessary?"

"Completely," Yukimura assured, finding a white polo shirt at long last and shrugging it on. "I need to keep up an image, even in my work area don't I?"

He slipped an arm behind his long hair still trapped inside the shirt, and raised it swiftly, yanking the black locks out quickly and allowing them to spray over his shoulders before shaking his head like a dog. Not giving Saizo a chance to marvel how his head managed to remain neat after that, he raised it with his trademark grin and bright, cocky eyes. "So, Saizo? Time for some lunch with those sweet cafeteria ladies, is it?"

His assistant coughed nervously. "Actually, Yukimura-sama," he started, "I have to go clear some documents you _kindly _left me to go over the other day. I'm afraid I cannot accompany you today. Apologies."

"Oh," Yukimura frowned, but shrugged with a smile an instant later. "Well, don't worry! I think I can order a veggie burger by myself for once. You go on, now, papers about finance and economics and all that junk waiting for you back at the desk!"

"…Enjoy your lunch, Yukimura-sama."

Leaving a very gritted teeth Saizo behind to gather his possessions and carry them back to the break room, Yukimura practically skipped out of the room and out of the corridor, around the bend…

…And almost immediately into Kosuke coming around from the other side, her surprised shriek accompanied by the loud rustling as her stationeries dropped to the floor as gravity compelled them to.

"I'm sorry…" Kosuke fretted, glancing up from her searching of a pencil. "Yukimura-sama! I'm very sorry, I wasn't looking at where I was going…"

"No, no, it's fine, Kosuke!" Yukimura handed her the pencil and some papers to go with it. "It was me ignoring the 'No speeding' sign back there…you okay?"

"Yes…thank you," Kosuke straightened up, shifting the weight of her bundle to the other arm. "Actually," she said as if an afterthought, "I wonder if we could go get some lunch together?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Yukimura cried exuberantly, offering to take a share of her load. "But now I have a bad feeling about it," he continued as his help was refused, and they had started off the hallway together. "Because every time you invite me to things where we'll be alone together, you have some sort of reprimand ready for me."

Kosuke smiled regretfully. "Must you be so suspicious of my motives?" she asked. "But, yes, I suppose in a way you are right. About this time at least."

The man let out a deep breath he must have been holding. "Well, alright then. Hit me with it."

"Yukimura-sama, I heard that you've been putting Sasuke at unrest lately."

The actor gave her a wary sideways glance. "Oh, so is _this _what it's about? I already promised Saizo I'll stop doing it–"

"This isn't a problem about if you will stop or not," Kosuke cut him off. "I was simply thinking to myself if there was a reason you would harass somebody, and a child at that."

"I wasn't harassing him!" Yukimura said indignantly. "I was merely teasing him a bit on an impulse–"

Kosuke was shaking her head. "You know, for an extremely attractive man, Yukimura-sama, we know you are never attracted to, in turn, people who you have only just met and still make a good impression of. You're making an exception to this Sasuke boy already. I will, for the record, also appreciate it if you not underestimate us – we _do _notice things."

Yukimura chuckled apprehensively. "My bad," he apologized. "Although you know that's what I love you all for."

"So there _is_ a reason?"

"A reason for harassment? Maybe that person did something to my friends, and I wanted to make his life a living hell. Reason for attraction? In my opinion, I haven't shown any kind of favouritsm to anybody for anything, because they all look the same from where I'm standing. And that's on the podium of celebrities."

"But Sasuke is definitely different," Kosuke countered.

The black haired man was quiet for a while, as though he was thinking things through and actually sorting his mind out.

"…Maybe I wanted to try taming him," he guessed, half to himself rather than to his companion. "I mean, you've seen how he is with his peers and all. Always grumpy and let down…And you know what they say, to tame a beast, poke some fun at it first and watch what happens."

Kosuke shook off the small smile that had crept up on her. "As much as I would like to say that a movie studio would not be the most appropriate place to try out that theory, I think we're getting somewhere," she said approvingly. "I can understand what you think about Sasuke's manners as well…a little."

Yukimura smiled cheekily. "Oh? 'A little'? The all-knowing, grand, wise old Kosuke has hit a dead end for once in her life and admitted defeat? Glad you decided to take the drama course rather than Studies of Psychology in school."

"Don't call me old. I'm nine years younger than you! Anyway," Kosuke continued huffily, "I only added that because I wasn't aware of how much _you _are aware of too, Yukimura-sama. I can see that you don't take Sasuke's behaviour as timidity, but as something more…but I have to know if you understand any farther than that."

"And I suppose you already have the answer to that as well," Yukimura grumbled. "So it wasn't that you couldn't fathom any more than me or less, you were just checking how much I understand…compared to you, who reads everything like a book, of course."

"Well, it's really mostly guesswork," Kosuke said, rather proudly. "And I take it you _don't _understand anymore than that?"

"Not a single clue."

"Ah. Let me enlighten you then, shall I?"

"I smell ribs. Seems like we're getting some meat for lunch."

Kosuke sniffed the air. "Too bad it's not bear."

The two split up to join different lines once they entered the cafeteria, so their conversation was on pause until they both got their respective chow and beverages. Choosing a table next to the window, Yukimura motioned for Kosuke to sit across him.

"So, what was that about making me open my eyes to the wonderful mysteries of Sasuke?" Yukimura asked. "Oh, and they sure made an effort with the corn soup this time round, didn't they," he added drily, scooping some up and watching the thick, yellowy substance drip sludgingly from the spoon back to the bowl.

"As you well know, I'm sure, Sasuke just doesn't seem the type to hide behind an adult's leg while being addressed," Kosuke answered. "…I swear my one is bubbling."

"For heavens sake, we're not high schoolers, we're an international movie production studios," the man opposite her grumbled, "Just because there's the word 'cafeteria' in it, doesn't mean that we just _have _to be served this gloppy stuff."

"Sasuke has a tendency to look directly in the eyes of someone when they're talking to him, although not admittedly long, just until he's finished his say," Kosuke continued. "This might have an effect on disturbing them mentally, but it has no basis so I can't prove anything with that. What we _can _figure out is that he might be the kind who likes to carry things out completely and efficiently, doesn't joke around a lot, sometimes just too _serious_ – perhaps something he picked up from his environment or way of living. I'll have a look into that."

Yukimura was fiddling with his fork now. "That lady gave me a ladle extra of lima beans," he said dejectedly. "She seemed to think she was doing me a favour."

"This pretty young guy was at the meat section. It wasn't bear, but he did this sweet gesture by handing me a really big piece."

"What!?" Yukimura's head shot up. "Hey, hey! Nobody puts move on Kosuke without getting past me!"

"You're like my father sometimes, Yukimura-sama. I certainly was not thinking of dating him in any way."

"Good," the actor huffed. "Will you look at that little sunshine? All beard and tattoos and gelled hair. It's only general knowledge that young ladies prefer men with a clean face, clean skin, and naturally dazzling hair. Now, take me for example–"

"Maybe I should talk to him sometime," Kosuke murmured.

"Have you even been listening to me?? That is a no-gooder, young lady, not worthy of you at all–"

"I meant _Sasuke_, Yukimura-sama."

"Oh," Yukimura's swelling bravado visibly shrank back. "Yes. Him. Well," he began, picking up his train of rambling from where he had left off, "I suppose he won't try to flatter you with false smiles and heart shaped sweeties. But then again, he probably knows that he doesn't have a chance with any girl in the first place. He really needs a good hair session–"

With a neat flick of her fork, Kosuke successfully sent a wrinkled pea sailing through the air and to a soft landing in the middle of Yukimura's lima beans. "You know, Yukimura-sama," she said lightly, "I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm beginning to wonder if _you're _actually the problem of the friction between the two of you."

During the next moment, while the actor stared at her disbelievingly, she added, "Scratch that, you're pretty much the source of it."

"_What?" _Yukimura uttered. "Look, I _know _I was wrong in starting the whole ruckus that happened this morning, but I didn't mean for things to escalate _too _much. Besides, the kid pretty much ignores anything that anyone says anyway, how in hell was I supposed to know that his pride was so unproportionally big that he won't let that one comment slide?"

"I didn't mean about that fuss," Kosuke put her hands up defensively as she continued. "Remember when I said that you were the kind of person who didn't pay much attention to people you have no interest in? And I'm not saying that you're completely ignorant of everyone who greets you when you come to work or something," she added hastily, watching the black haired man attack his now cold beef, "It certainly wasn't that way for us. Me.

Yukimura-sama, you are one of the most considerate, nicest person I have ever met. And we all owe a lot to you, even if you continue to decline from taking credit…as you're doing now," Kosuke sighed, as Yukimura nodded approvingly and carried on gnawing at a thick bone. She twiddled her fork between her thumb and finger nervously, hesitating a moment before continuing diffidently.

"But…sometimes, and it's very rare times, this…you just…put high standards for people, you know? People you don't…overly trust, and want to test them somehow," She looked up from her noodles, anxiously waiting as Yukimura wiped his mouth with a white napkin.

Reaching for his glass of water, Yukimura nodded to her to continue. "Don't worry; I'm listening," he coaxed, smiling, before taking a sip.

Relaxing slightly, Kosuke started off again. "For the most half, I think that you have reasonable causes to set those standards," she said. "It's the other half, when I see people struggle with your tests, is when I worry. Yukimura-sama, you probably don't know it, but you search for certain things in a person's character. I think that you're very accepting for the majority of them, be they be mild or belligerent, because you could always use them for your benefit. And you are very good at that – no offence meant, really. But then there's the odd…anomaly, you find opposing to your idea of how things work. And when you try to take it out of your realm, you try to do so in a rather rash way."

Yukimura quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's 'my idea of how things work', then?"

Another dithering second. "Um…"

"Go on – to tell the truth, I need to know myself. 'To know one's enemy, one must know one's self', right?"

Kosuke gave a small, reassured laugh. "Right. Well, umm…Yukimura-sama, you tend to see yourself as the highest point set in the history of…anything you're considered to be good at, really. Acting, socializing, talents you have that other people envy and wish to be like you. Believe me, some do, and in their eyes reaching your level is the best thing possible in the world. It's just that others – their goals aren't anywhere near where you are, no matter how much you've risen to tower over them. They couldn't care less if they could climb up there and try to knock you off as one of the most famous actors of time. They might prefer walking past your shining 'podium of stars', and taking another route to gain what _they _want – maybe a scholarship to Harvard, or taking on their parents' baking business, or – or starting up a family…And you, Yukimura-sama, you just don't like that. I think you've gotten used to all the attention showered over you in these past years, and that anyone who chooses to ignore you ends up getting the blunt of your unaccustomed, barely contained paroxysm. Say like a tantrum."

Yukimura took a while in going through his beans and lone pea, but he had taken in every word his cohort was saying clearly enough. He swallowed, pulled a disgusted face, and said, "So you're saying I'm egoistical."

Kosuke was never one to back down from what she had begun, so she gave a little smile and replied, "Sasuke might have a bit of an issue when his pride is attacked with comments on him being a child, but at least he confronts it with honest outrage and a healthy temper."

"So you're saying I'm egoistical and is one of those retards who make snarky, half-meaning remarks just to rile people I don't think is good enough for me up. Because I don't know what I'm doing myself, and because it was borne out of a childish impulse to gain attention."

"I wouldn't put it as that–"

Yukimura let out a deep, weary breath, and let his silverware clatter loudly down to his plate. "I think you should," he murmured. "You, Saizo, and our other friends are the only ones who have enough guts to come out and speak to me what you want to, and out in public as well. I'm thankful for it," he smiled, honestly and openly, for what felt like the first time in weeks. "Because I need somebody to pull me aside once in a while, and just tell me what faults I have. And that kind of help is so hard to come by these days."

Kosuke seemed assured with Yukimura's light tone, but it took on a serious under layer soon after. "And you mean that Sasuke's attitude might have offended me in that way?"

"Yes," Kosuke said, relieved that the actor was taking it in an adultish fashion. "It's been a while that somebody should snub you so frankly and unafraidly. I suppose that his attitude could be able to annoy anyone, but you… we have to take in consideration that he is a child, and is going through the time when we all had problems dealing with ourselves and life. From what I've heard already, he's gone through enough hardships than most children of his age. Yukimura-sama, this may be the only way he can think of to tackle his difficulties. He's not aware that it could bring discomfort to the people around him. A bit like you."

Yukimura frowned at the notion of being compared to a child. Still, "I should really take in consideration of his thoughts as well, huh."

Kosuke nodded eagerly. "You _are _the adult. Although you might have had a less pressing childhood – let's face it, there'll be quite a small percentage that had worse than Sasuke in this country – you've seen enough to give tips to younger ones. Please do so."

Yukimura sat back in his chair, tilting his handsome face towards the window. Seeing his reflection mirrored in the glass, he searched it for a minute, before focusing on the scenery beyond that, and marveling.

It wasn't a splendid sight; a large car park stretched across before the building he was in, and another concrete block stood across it with motives of blocking his view of the roads and highway afar. The other surroundings weren't too remarkable either, just more grey edifices left, right and center. Still, the cars that littered the parking lot had much variety in colours and structures – movie stars just had to be inclined to have vehicles with big tail wings and flashy patterns – while more impressively, a sky showing fair weather that day hung itself above all. It was just past midday, and the sun was at it's highest, and the occasional cloud passed under it to throw a shadow around everything in the vicinity.

It certainly wasn't Van Gogh, but he wouldn't have seen it if he had concentrated solely on his reflection. Yukimura looked back at it, and even with a stunning, dreamy expression, it wasn't as alluring as it was before.

He shook himself mentally, and checked his watch.

"I'd better go now," he told Kosuke. "I left Saizo with some work, uh, accidentally of course, but trusting him he'd have it done by now. He'd throw a fit if I ran in a millisecond too late."

Kosuke made an amused noise. "Better hop to it, then," she said teasingly. Yukimura got up, and was about to walk past her when he stopped abruptly.

"Kosuke? Thanks."

She smiled. "Bye, bye," she waved, as Yukimura grinned and made his exit. Feeling more cheerful than she had during her careful talk five minutes ago, she drained the rest of her drink in one.

_Hope Yukimura-sama doesn't lose his temper anytime soon, though…_

She blinked in surprise when somebody plopped himself in Yukimura's now vacant seat. Looking up, she saw the newcomer was the meat serving busboy.

"Hey," he grinned, showing his white teeth. "Did you enjoy the beef?"

Kosuke placed her glass carefully back where it had come from, and gave a coy smile, lacing her fingers together with her elbows up on the table. "Why yes, yes I did," she almost purred. Then, going straight in for the attack, "So, are you any good at making dinner for two?"

The boy blanched at the sudden offer, but soon regained his composure again. "Yeah! Sure!" he said, a little too excitedly. "Wh-what time would you like? Where do you want to go? Uh…do you have any preferences? I can do hamburgers, steak, marinated chicken wings…"

Sometimes, Kosuke thought, it was good knowing how much you resemble the beautiful star actor, Sanada Yukimura.

* * *

"Ooh! Sorry…" Yukimura looked over his shoulder at the person he had just bumped past. Damn, these were some really narrow hallways…

But his apologetic smiled vanished like the air when he caught sight of _who _it was he had bumped, and a sudden regretting feeling flew through one ear and out, that he hadn't "bumped" the person a tad harder. It was Sheldon Malkins, Gregory's personal secretary and the man in the one worthy place of His Majesty's advisor, had Mr. Gregory been born in another world as King of Humpaloompa.

"No need for such humble apologies, Sanada," Sheldon sneered, "I'm sure we're all too busy with our own things that we just don't have the decency to look out for other people, right?"

Yukimura surveyed the four-eyed, pointy faced, brittle haired scarecrow with immense distaste. "…There are times of trouble," he finally agreed, beginning to turn back to start his trek over to the breakroom again. It was already nearing five in the afternoon, and he had one last take after a little nap…

"Speaking of trouble," Sheldon continued, and Yukimura stopped in his steps out of sheer politeness – he _knew _he was better off without it though, the disgusting gleefulness in the other man's voice was practically giving off warning vibes – "Didn't Mr Gregory seem worried over something that last time he saw you? Something about a child actor being needed in short time…"

Yukimura put on a painful smile. "I heard _you _put him out of the dilemma."

"Well, it was natural I should," Sheldon bragged, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. "Being the one person who works closest to him, the owner and manager of a hectic, bustling studio, I should out of all subordinates be able to help him relax so things run smoothly," he gave a thin smile that did not reach his narrow, pale eyes, "So, how are you liking the new boy I brought in?"

"Oh, it was _you_ who brought in that little wonder, was it?" Yukimura asked, struggling hard to keep the mockery out of his words. Now that he thought about it, he should have known it was no good the moment Gregory had mentioned his secretary back in his office…

"Mr Gregory really seemed glad," Sheldon went on relentlessly, "Of course, I had to pull some strings, but…it _was _for the sake of the studio, and this course of action got some more appreciation for those who work _behind _the screen to make those glorious _Sanada Yukimura _pictures happen…" He watched the handsome man out of the corner of his eyes, hands twiddling together with something of a leer growing on his face. Sighing, Yukimura threw back his hair and brought on an onslaught of his own, with full bright teeth stretched into a unmistakenable grin, twin black orbs glittering.

"Well, you wanted to know how the kid was doing, were you? First, he's an absolute _darling_; beautiful manners, we can tell he came from the perfect background; greets everyone accordingly – a nod there, a grimace here, one or two sophisticated words; excellent company when you want to make small talk with somebody, because with him, it just _escalates, _you know? _So _exciting to be with him, ask anybody, they'll say the same – I think he's perfect, he has the most enchanting insights on acting and movie making itself; never let yourself be degraded to a commoner's level, because make any contact with them and you'll be soiled; never let your audience know your secrets, in fact don't even make friends, because if they find out those simple little tricks you use to make yourself look good in front of the camera, well, you're pretty much done for. Don't let people get closer to you. Don't trust anyone. Good relationships are meaningless in workplaces. In short, to answer your inquiry, I can't think of anything about him that should be fixed. You should _hear _him, he comes to midlevels with us all. Oops, gotta run, see you around then!"

With a parting smile and a wave, he left a confused Sheldon in the middle of the corridor, before muttering under his breath, "Poor old bastard."

_Hope Saizo got some black coffee waiting in the breakroom…_

He rounded the nearest corner, and froze for a full second when he thought he saw something small and white whip out of sight from behind a slightly ajar door. Looking up, he found a narrow strip of metal stuck on the wall which read _"Minors Changing Rooms"_.

Feeling a thrill run down his back, Yukimura pushed open the door and found himself facing racks of costumes, boxes of props, piles of extra bits of materials, as they crowded around the door on all sides, cajoling him into entering the dim, unseen, yawning hole beyond. The dark haired man stepped cautiously around them as he made his way into the room; careful not to kick anything else he might have an avalanche underway.

There was junk, and then there was _junk_. Just littered around the floor, old, glittery…_things_ with sequences hanging on by their last threads for dear life as part of a wasted costume or…something else, objects of all shapes and sizes, blocks, poles, balls, unidentified rolling objects which were dangerous when stepped on. Yukimura arched his eyebrows when he nudged a sort of cushiony item onto it's back. It's underside was covered in green stuff, with a tinge of yellow for artistic license. So _that _was where that smell was coming fr…

He kicked it back onto it's front again, and hurriedly continued on his search pinching his nose.

Eventually, he came to a clear space in the middle of the jungle, although not admittedly a very _wide, _clear space. And there stood the very unhappy looking boy actor he was searching for, down right at the back with the tassels and frills of a Charleston dress and the tattered jacket of a pirate vest pressed up to his cheek as he dug into them.

They stared at each other for a short while, the older wondering what sort of approach he should take with an opponent wearing a rather intimidating facial expression, the other looking as though he was about to be mobbed by a gang in a scary dark alley, but…just wasn't about to be, either.

"Ummm," Yukimura started intelligently, racking his brain for something to say. "Hi," he finished lamely. Well, it was a short race, but quite a hot one at that.

"You're not a minor," Sasuke said shortly. Yukimura blinked, and chuckled nervously.

"You're right; I'm not," he shrugged.

"You shouldn't be in here."

"Technically speaking, neither should you," Yukimura pointed out. "You're _co-casting _with me; doesn't that make you an actor on almost equal grounds?"

Something flickered in Sasuke's golden eyes, but he didn't say anything out of place. "That Malkins man told me to keep my stuff here," he said – again, without much motive to continue this engaging conversation any further. What a pity.

The other actor grinned cockily and crossed his arms. "You don't have to listen to Sheldon, you know," he said lightly. "He's too pompous and bossy, I never found the need. Besides, this place," he waved one hand to indicate the room, so difficult to find what with them being inside it and just standing nervously there waiting for an introduction to make itself known, "Is usually used for people needing rush changes between their jobs. Sheldon probably bumped you here because he's too lazy to find a spare room himself."

Sasuke's frown was getting deeper, as he said, softly, "I know that. But Sheldon told me to stay put here at the end of the day, so he knows where I am when he comes to pick me up after work."

"Well, I can–" Yukimura paused – he was _not _up to an argument with Sheldon over a little case of getting changing rooms for a child. Whenever he did try to bring something up that had been on his attention, the mousy secretary always sighed dramatically (probably something he had picked up from his boss) and started off a long suffering, stretched out rant how people like Yukimura was always wasting his time over trivial matters, not caring about what happened to everybody else around them, so long as they got what they wanted blah, blah, blah. This, Yukimura decided, would _certainly _be counted in the category of Trivial Matters. Then again, the majority of things he had asked about counted as that, as well.

"…try talking him into getting a better place," he landed the plane with a smooth smile, mentally checking himself to ignore the promise.

The boy's answer was short, sweet, and straight to the point. "Don't bother. I can ask him myself if I wanted to." Independent, was he?

It surprised Yukimura that the child would want to take matters in his own hands – and against Sheldon, too – but then again, he'd only been with the boy fifteen hours, forty minutes, three seconds, and he already had an idea of how he liked to take control of his own situations. He smiled encouragingly, genuinely praying for the safe return of the boy. "If you say so."

Suddenly a reminder was thrown at him from the far, murky depth of the past of Fifteen Seconds Ago; of his conversation with Sheldon, and his finding of the boy they had been talking about right around the corner. Stepping forwards, he asked with a barely restrained earnest, "Sheldon and I saw each other briefly just now. Did you, by any chance hear us talking?"

Shit, maybe he said it a little too panicky. Yukimura, after his conversation over lunch with Kosuke, was a little more intent on getting on Sasuke's good side. But if he had listened in on the exchange earlier…

But Sasuke gave him a blank look, and said, "Talking about what?"

"Ah! Nothing, don't worry," he said brightly, sighing in relief inwardly. At least that hadn't completely spoilt his chances. "Say," he pressed, on the roll now that an obstacle had been moved away, "Are you free right now?"

"I need to get back to Kakei for lessons in twenty minutes, so no," Sasuke said, and made to move away, his hands laced together, and so unseen, behind his back.

"Oh, come on!" Yukimura said cheerfully, bounding forward, "I just want to apologize for this morning's incident."

The boy's eyes flashed at the memory, but he said indifferently, "I've already forgotten it, so there's no need–"

"But I won't feel at ease again until you forgive me," Yukimura protested. "Come on, please? Let me."

Sasuke glared up, annoyed that he wasn't being let go, but he said, "Fine. Get it over with."

"Will do," Yukimura chirped, and squatted down in front of Sasuke promptly. The silver haired boy blinked with the same expression he had worn when he and Yukimura had first been introduced, and Yukimura had gotten onto the floor to look him in the eyes. When Yukimura cocked his head to one side, and did his very best "kicked puppy" impression, Sasuke felt his heart thud momentarily before resuming it's normal, boring (but of course wouldn't want it any other way) beat.

"Sasuke," Yukimura practically whined in that sweet tenor of his, and Sasuke had to fight the urge to look away in shame that he was forced to bear a scene so heart-wrenching it was criminal, "I'm really sorry, I was feeling restless this morning. I didn't mean to insult you. Will you forgive me?" he pleaded, doleful dark eyes tearing up a bit. Sasuke _did _look away then, down at his feet.

"…You're not sorry at all, are you," he muttered quietly. Damn, he felt a bit giddy…

"What!" Yukimura quickly got to his feet, feeling rather put out. "That was the best apology I'd thrown around since ages! Oh, fine," he huffed, making a disgruntled, pouting face. "If you think that way, alright, be like that. It's not as though I go handing out every admission of guilt with a bonus like _that_, just so you know."

Sasuke said nothing, just shifted his feet a little and stared at the floor as he did.

"Hey," Yukimura noticed that he had kept his arms behind him the whole time they had been kind of talking. "You holding something there?"

Sasuke seemed to still; he didn't raise his head, though.

"What is it?" Yukimura persisted, and when the boy didn't answer, he went, "Aha. A porn mag, is it?"

The flushed face shot up, redness flaring across the embarrassed, frustrated expression on it. "No!"

Yukimura had no choice but to let loose a giggle; Sasuke was impossible not to make fun of when he got irked like that, and it was the first time seeing him make such a face…

"Oh, come on!" he teased, making a sudden grab for whatever it was behind Sasuke's back. Sasuke made a small, surprised noise as he stumbled backward, not unlike a squeak. Yukimura laughed again, and it seemed to irritate Sasuke even more.

"Quit it!" he shouted, trying to get around Yukimura. When he found that the older man wasn't about to give up, he made a dash for it. His hand snaking out, Yukimura caught a hold of one of the boy's arms – unfortunately not the one that was holding the object. Reaching for the other arm, while still keeping a tight hold of the one he had already in his grasp, Yukimura pulled the boy closer to him, but not without some hard work. Sasuke was floundering wildly, high grunts escaping him as he tried to get away, but he stubbornly kept the thing he was holding out of sight.

"Really, I just want to see, I won't even touch it!" Yukimura said playfully, as he made yet another unsuccessful dive.

"Is that the sort of thing you say when you're doing something like this??" Sasuke yelled, twisting his body away in a desperate attempt to shy away.

Yukimura gave a last lunge, but missed _again_; his shoe, however, got stuck in folds and laces of a dress hanging from the rack near the ground as he drew it back. When he stepped forward to regain his balance he found it unable to move; at least not until the whole rack came down on him. Falling forward in an unceremonious manner, he took a surprised Sasuke with him, the latter ending up underneath everything, Yukimura's heavy body being the first of the package, followed swiftly by a flurry of costumes.

"Oof!"

"Ahh…"

"Ouch…"

Timber.

After the rustling and flapping of the plummeting fabric ceased, Yukimura subconsciously noted that there was something warm underneath him. Cracking open a tightly scrunched eye, he found himself staring into a widened, shocked golden one very, very close to him. He all but threatened himself not to gasp – Sanada Yukimura _had _to keep his cool, in whatever position he was put in. It was while thinking about this, that Yukimura noticed that they were actually so close that their noses were almost touching. He gulped inaudibly, and tried to get his pulse back to a steady beat.

Not that his heart was reacting in any way. He wasn't _nervous, _of course.

The older man swept his gaze over the boy's face to buy him some time to hatch a foolproof idea – if Sasuke had been angry before, he was livid now. His face was reddening, his teeth were digging into his bottom lip harder every second, and the arch his eyebrows were making was getting deeper by about the same tempo. He was doing his best staring daggers at the other, even while askance. Yukimura wondered if the whirls the gears of his brain were making could be heard from outside his skull as well, and if that was what was infuriating Sasuke.

Because personally, he had no problems at all with this situation.

It wasn't so long afterwards that Sasuke exploded. "YOU–"

"Shh," Yukimura intercepted him, making him still in confusion for an instant. "Relax."

"Relax??!! How can you tell me to relax like this?! What if somebody comes in and sees us–"

"Oh, so you're already old enough to think stuff like that, are you?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled, "Just shut up! And stop making fun of my age! I think older than you can credit me for!"

Yukimura freed his arms from the rubble that had been covering them, and folded them one over another on top of Sasuke's chest. "Hmm?" he purred, resting his head atop his arms. "And there I thought I was forgiven for on the earlier incident."

"I changed my mind," the boy snapped. "I'm never going to forgive you for anything you do from now on."

The older act let his tongue flick out, licking his lips as he looked up calmly at Sasuke. "Well, then," he breathed huskily, shrewdly eyeing the child's neck with sudden great interest, "I'd better start making up for all the things I'm going to do with you 'from now on'…before you start not forgiving me."

Sasuke flushed as the hot breath wash over his collarbones and chin, befuddled when he felt a burning sensation in his chest, and also somewhere in the pit of his stomach. He squirmed slightly as he watched, helpless, as Yukimura unraveled his tangled arms and used them to push him up to once again get level with the boy's head. Sasuke whimpered as the other's clothes rubbed against his, the littlest friction now creating an unknown sensation that was quite new to the young boy. At the same time, a more familiar feeling was bubbling up inside him, growing as Yukimura inched closer, and closer, upwards. He swallowed, trying hard to surpress his trembling, his rising panic, but unfortunately to no avail.

When he felt light fingers trail up and down, making patterns along his neck, he let out an involuntary squeak. "What are you–"

"Don't worry," Yukimura whispered, nuzzling the skin right underneath Sasuke's chin, "This won't hurt a bit."

The child actor's face drained of colour at the implications. "Oh no–"

"Oh _yes_," Yukimura grinned, and chuckled merrily as the boy _really _started to thrash underneath him. Sasuke cried out, in frustration, in rage, and in fear.

He was trapped. His arms were intertwined with something on either side of his body, one wrapped in a silky material, the other starting to itch and apparently stuck in a bristly garment, neither moving as freely as he wished. His legs were not as knotted as them (the majority of the props that had crashed down on them both had fell on their upper bodies) but he was made painfully aware that the older man was _between _them, and leaning much of his weight onto Sasuke's torso, restricting him from moving into any position which would make his flailing feet any use.

"Stop…"

His small voice cracked as he grew tired of wriggling aimlessly, and his muscles still tensed, his limbs finally dropped to a rest.

"Please, stop…" he croaked, flinching as Yukimura's fingers crept up the sides of his face, and one of his hands started stroking the boy's creased forehead.

"I don't think I will," Yukimura said softly. "I think you deserve it."

Sasuke's breath hitched as Yukimura heaved himself up one last time, and now with his head directly above Sasuke's, he seemed satisfied with the arrangement. Smiling, Yukimura drifted his large hands down towards the younger's cheek, and Sasuke clamped his eyes shut, trembling–

"Fuhiiiii?!"

The eyelids sprang open again and Sasuke yelled at the nipping pain on both ends of his cheeks. Yukimura's slight fingers had taken hold of them, and was pinching them hard, stretching the baby fatted, smooth plumpness to a limit thought impossible to mankind. Impossible and painful.

Well, the latter was proven true, if Sasuke's shriek was anything to go by.

"This," Yukimura ignored the high frequency melodies of incredulity and temper that emitted from below, "Is your punishment."

"Puhithmenf???"

"You aren't allowed to bring toys here," he nodded at the wooden object in the boy's hand, "No exception to kendamas or kids." The smirk was evident in his voice.

But Sasuke was too indignant at the moment to care about the underline. He shook his head vigorously, wincing as Yukimura's nails accidentally dug in deeper the moment before he let go, leaving multiple faint crescent-shaped marks on the otherwise flawless pale skin. Glaring, Sasuke spat out, "I got permission! My caretaker said that I could take just one thing, and Sheldon agreed when he talked to him about it."

Yukimura frowned. Sheldon again? Was the kid owned by that bastard? He sighed, tapping his fingers against the cold floor next to the boy's head. Sasuke was definitely in a foul mood now, but the man still didn't feel like getting up for a bit.

"Mm-hmm," he stalled, "So you thought of playing with it for a few minutes during break, right? You really are a kid." He thread his fingers through the silvery locks, marveling at the silkiness.

"Don't _call _me that," Sasuke growled, his face heating up again and he struggled to avoid the contact. "And get off of me; you're heavy."

"And most people will die to stay in this pose," Yukimura said sorrowfully, but removed himself from the scene and sat back to pick some cloth which had gotten stuck on various pointy things he happened to be wearing.

Sasuke scrambled up as well, having found it easier to disentangle his arms when Yukimura was not obscuring his view and thoughts. "…Jerk," he mumbled angrily, but he just couldn't get the redness to clear itself from his visage.

"Oh?" Yukimura was still sitting right next to him, trying very hard not to move until he got the last pink ribbon out of his own clothes. Somehow it had wedged itself there, and he was not so sure if even Saizo would count it as Yukimura starting a new trend that will catch on by the next season. "Well, look who got all embarrassed from that treatment," he said teasingly.

The boy hurriedly lifted an arm before his face and turned away, as though that would stop the burning that had grown there and erase Yukimura's memory of even spotting it. "It's because you started…doing stuff," he muttered, eyes fixed downwards.

"Ah," Yukimura remarked, "But then again, children these days are supposed to be _experienced_ aren't they?" The corners of his lips twitched, and he dipped his face next to the boy's ear. "Tell me, what _were _you thinking about when you told me to 'Stop'? You sounded pretty desperate there…"

"None of your business!" Sasuke snapped. "For the record, I blame you for saying it in a way that'll make anybody think like…that!"

"Hey, nobody said that I couldn't tamper with my test subjects," he shrugged.

The boy slowly peeked back around again, hands drawn up to fidget with the collar of his shirt as he knelt up, still with his back to Yukimura. "What the fuck do you mean, 'test subjects'?"

"You see," Yukimura started friendly, "A friend of mine suspects that I've taken a sort of interest in you, because apparently I am self-important and stuck-up and is aggravated because you never seem to look at me, when just about everybody does so faithfully. This is just _her _idea okay, nothing to put by me. Anyway, my friend, as luck befalls, has a good hunch for most parts, so I decided to take her word for it this time, and try solving that teensy little fluke by 'testing' it first. It was easy. Catch your attention. It worked, didn't it?"

He grinned triumphantly as Sasuke blinked, bewildered. "What – why–"

"Look at this way, Sasuke," Yukimura dropped his tone, and his gaze seemed to become even more piercing. "I'm the kind of person who will do absolutely anything to get what I want. If that may be your awareness of me, then sure, that works too. There is a saying," he continued more conversationally, "'If you don't like something, change it. If you can't, then change yourselves'. But the second phase has proven time and again to be more troublesome than the first. So naturally, I choose to do my best to stick to that former one almost always."

His glittering eyes were haunting. Sasuke forced himself not to look away, dared himself to keep staring into those dark depths.

"I don't think I would care if you didn't like the way I did things," the older man breathed, "But remember this; I'll make it so that you won't be able to think of anything _but _me one day, and I'll make sure that you will need me for every little thing you do in life. I'll make it so that you can't live without me intruding on your every thoughts, dreams, and whatever may occupy your mind, be it day or night. Remember that."

He stared hard at the sideways view he had of the boy's face, and saw with pleasure that the light dusting that had been present there for quite a while now had turned crimson, making Sasuke look as though he had been fitted with a light bulb inside his head. His stick-thin arms were hugged by his chest, gripping his shirt collar in a deathhold. The action gave him a defensive look, one Yukimura longed to break and make his own. The child was sweating at the intensity, obviously awkward, and maybe, just possibly, he might have been scared.

Yukimura surveyed him for a second longer, before bursting out into mirthful laughter and doubling over, his forehead dangerously close to hitting itself on the floor.

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" he managed to get out. "Your face! Oh lord…you should have seen it, you looked like you were taking me seriously there!"

He chortled, he choked, he ended up unsuccessfully banging himself on the back, still refusing to stop wheezing and giggling. Sasuke had whipped around to stare at him in disbelief.

"You… you're crazy," Sasuke mumbled, seemingly in a kind of shock at the realization. His anger had not even broke it's way through to the sensors in his mind.

Yukimura smiled at him. "You have to keep in mind, I _am _an actor. Deceiving people on screen wasn't the only thing in my job description."

He picked himself up, now completely free of any impeding garments, dusted himself down, and offered a hand to Sasuke. "Kakei will be wondering where you've got up to," he smiled, "You wouldn't want him to come up to inspect, and find you here like this, would you? Leave the tidying to me and get to class."

Sasuke looked at the hand, and took it, and hauled himself up to his feet.

And kicked Sanada Yukimura sharply on the shin.

And Sanada Yukimura howled like as though the heavens were about to squish him.

"That's payback!" Sasuke yelled, scarlet to the hairline, before dashing out of the dark room and out of sight into the corridor, trailed by a thick cloud of movie studio dust.

Yukimura sat with his foot in his hand, whimpering piteously before deciding to stop 'acting' like a big baby and get to work before someone pins the blame of the damaged racks on him. Even though they would be absolutely correct.

He was also hoping against hope that Kosuke would not notice the change in Sasuke's behaviour towards him the next day, because he had a feeling it wasn't going to be a cheery one.

* * *

And hopefully I can magically whip up a way to get Yuki and Sasu together. I have to admit, I was kinda tempted to making this a Parental!Yukimura and orphan Sasuke story halfway into this chapter. Until I decided they were too OOC, so I had to put in an element of the usual attitude Yukimura has (since Sasuke has been shown with little insight in this chappie, I didn't bother with him); which of course, is him being happy-go-lucky, flirty, bubbly, lovely, bouncy, less stupid, and pedo. Which led to me unable to avoid the obvious yaoi themes and go on as it is (not that I was trying to).

I honestly have no idea what Yukki was thinking when he tried to molest poor unsuspecting Sasu in a closet. Heehee.

Please tell me that some of you guys out there in front of the computer or whatever (my little sister got an itouch before me, making it devastatingly aware to me that I need to save up and take a break from buying manga and the lot) yanked at your cheeks to see if Sasuke said "Punishment" (aka Puhithmenf) correctly. He does, I checked.

Happy New Year! You know, I would love it if readers could somehow bury this empty hole of a Chirstmas spirit which is gaping wide because I didn't get enough prezzies to settle my mind, with reviews I always worship while reading them over and over again...


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